Moving to Virginia as a residential contractor: every state's rule

Virginia licenses contractors through the Board for Contractors at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and the license is issued to a business entity rather than to a person. Every license carries two separate things: a class (A, B or C) that sets the dollar limit on the work, and one or more classifications or specialty designations that set the type of work. Class C covers a single contract or project over $1,000 but under $30,000 and under $250,000 of work in any 12 months; Class B covers $30,000 to under $150,000 per project and $250,000 to under $1 million a year, and requires $15,000 of documented net worth or equity; Class A has no monetary ceiling and requires $45,000 of net worth or equity. A $50,000 surety bond on the Board's form may be filed instead of the financial statement, and Class C has no financial requirement at all. Homes-only work is the Residential Building (RBC) classification, which covers dwellings and townhouses and their accessory structures and folds in concrete, home improvement, masonry, painting, roofing, landscape and swimming pool work on those properties, but never electrical, plumbing, HVAC or gas fitting and never commercial buildings; smaller repair and remodeling firms may instead take the Home Improvement (HIC) specialty. The firm names a qualified individual for each designation, who must have one year (Class C), three years (Class B) or five years (Class A) of experience in that work and must pass the Board's RBC technical examination, and Class A and Class B firms also name a designated employee who passes the PSI business examination. All classes need eight hours of Board-approved pre-license education, and licenses run two years from the last day of the month of issuance.